[Closed] Soundbars/soundbases - I want to be able to use the telly volume control

It's really the manual for the sky remote you want to be checking out. You can program the volume control for a load of different manufacturers kit. I just had to find the right code for our Yamaha amp.

My Denon was easy to set up. Press buttons to put it in to a learning mode, tell it you want to program 'vol up' then hit remote control 'vol up' button. Same for 'vol down', 'mute' etc. No reason why you couldn't set it up to work with a sky remote. No codes necessary.

I've got a Q Acoustics soundbar and the instructions for it came with a code to put into the Sky remote to allow me to control the soundbar volume with the Sky remote.

I find our Yamaha soundbar regularly loses sync with the TV remote - no idea why and it's easy enough to fix but I often just use the Yamaha remote to control the volume

No Sky box though

What sort of telly is it? My Samsung has a bug that sits in front of the soundbar and takes care of volume adjusting duties for me (it should also turn it on and off, but that's stopped working for some reason)

Get a soundbar with two HDMI inputs, run the sources through it, HDMI output to the TV, and HDMI-CEC should ensure that you never have to cock about with IR codes ever again.

I'm doing this (albeit with an AV amp rather than a soundbar). Switch on the amp and it mutes the TV, all the remotes control the amp volume. Switch the amp off, the audio returns to the TV and all the remotes controls seamlessly control the TV volume instead.

Cheers cougar, that's the kind of thing I was thinking of.

Now to find a sound bar with multiple HDMI inputs...

I've got a Sky Plus HD box and the remote for that can be set up to control the soundbar either through the arrow buttons of by making the volume buttons on the remote control the soundbar. I'll try and find the instructions I used.

Here you go - it's talking about my LG but there'll likely be codes for whatever other soundbar you're after.

http://helpforum.sky.com/t5/Archived-Discussions/LG-Soundbar-volume-control-via-Sky-remote/td-p/554114

Now to find a sound bar with multiple HDMI inputs...

You also need to make sure it supports CEC. It's typically manufacturer-branded (Viera Link, Regza Link and a supporting cast of thousands, they're all CEC really).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI#CEC

Actually, does the multiple HDMI route mean I could control the volume of a Chromecast input using the Sky remote?

Thinking about it,

I don't think the Sky box supports CEC, so you will have to program the IR side of it (so my comments about IR may have been premature). However, if the soundbar and the TV both support CEC then they should hand off to each other.

If you're never going to operate the TV without the soundbar (I turn my amp off and revert to the TV sound after 11pm so as not to be too annoying to the neighbours), then you could probably just get away with reprogramming as others have said.

Actually, does the multiple HDMI route mean I could control the volume of a Chromecast input using the Sky remote?

Actually, does the multiple HDMI route mean I could control the volume of a Chromecast input using the Sky remote?

I have an Xbox One, Sky HD, Chromecast and a (now redundant really) Blu-Ray player connected to the four HDMI inputs on my amp. If the amp is switched on, the volume controls operate the amp volume irrespective of either which remote I pick up or which source I'm using. If the amp is switched off, the audio kicks back in on the TV and all the remotes control the TV volume.

The only configuration I had to do was to key in the TV's IR code into the Sky handsets and enable CEC on the TV and amp from within their respective config menus.

The Sky box and Xbox don't (yet) support CEC, but the BD player and Chromecast (and VT and amp ofc) both do; if I switch on either device the amp and TV all wake up on the correct channels. Sitting at the PC and being able to go "hey, watch this," click the Cast button and have everything wake up from standby and Just Work is hella cool. On my old non-HDMI amp changing sources involved a Vulcan Nerve Pinch on multiple remotes (though that was in part down to my Heath Robinson approach to interconnect wiring).

Cambridge Audio sound base here. Works off either remotes

Actually, does the multiple HDMI route mean I could control the volume of a Chromecast input using the Sky remote?

Though, hang on, you're not controlling the source, you're controlling the destination. If your Sky remote is set up to control your TV volume then you should be able to 'control the Chromecast volume' [i]right now[/i] with your existing setup.

Are you using the Sky volume controls to reduce the volume actually on the Sky box itself rather than the TV (so the TV volume setting will limit your maximum volume on Sky)?

Are you using the Sky volume controls to reduce the volume actually on the Sky box itself rather than the TV (so the TV volume setting will limit your maximum volume on Sky)?

The current setup is Sky box into one HDMI socket on the telly, Chromecast into the other.

The telly recognises the Sky remote, and we use that remote to control the input selection (i.e. to swap between HDM1 and HDMI 2) and the volume of the telly. We'll never watch anything that isn't from the Sky box or the Chromecast.

Just to add complication, once we have the soundbar we will listen to Spotify etc via Bluetooth from a phone. If the Sky control could control the volume of that too, so much the better.

Again, you should be controlling the volume on the output / playback device; you're not turning up / down the Chromecast, you're turning up / down the TV. It shouldn't matter whether the source is a Chromecast, a BT stream, a Sky box or a bacon sandwich.

Yeah, I get that at the moment I'm controlling the volume of the telly, regardless of which input device I'm using.

To be honest I don't really mind which end(s) of the thing I'm controlling; I just want to be able to have a soundbar, watch either Sky or Chromecast on the telly, have the sound coming out of the soundbar instead of the telly and control the volume of the soundbar using the Sky remote.

Ideally, I'd also like to be able to listen to something on the soundbar via Bluetooth and also control the volume of that using the Sky remote too.

And, if you're offering, I'd like a bacon sandwich.

On Chromecast we are struggling to create a mobile hotspot - do we need internet in our house first?

Offhand, I thought it [i]required[/i] an Internet connection. It won't boot without one I don't think. (A Wi-Fi hotspot on a phone should work though...?)

That's what we are trying do then wifi'ng a link from my mobile to mrsH's

Hmm, something I've been looking at too.

Don't fancy the HDMI option as I have a silly amount of HDMI devices plugged in. Was wondering if the Optical Out from the telly and into the soundbar would be the best option.

TV remote should still control volume right?

I've a samsung smart TV and an LG sound bar.
HDMI freeview and HDMI chromecast and HDMI eggBox into the TV, optical out to sound bar (From TV).
Also, chromecast audio into sound bar.

THe TV remote controls the soundbar volume, but only because I told the TV to. I think it does it through the optical.

I didn't programme my remote or anything.

I suppose the answer is, it depends on your setup and probably no 'one size fits all'..

DrP

IHN, Mine does exactly that using the optical out from the TV.